Mike Piesto (L), Joe Lewis (C) and Rodrigo Alarcon trim the buds of marijuana plants during a harvest at Alternative Solutions, a DC area medical marijuana producer, April 20, 2016 in Washington, DC.
Security cameras and barbed wire suggested this was the right place, an old warehouse on a dead-end street not far from the White House housing one of the few legal marijuana farms in the US capital. Alternative Solutions is one of seven facilities in Washington authorized to grow medical marijuana for nearly 3,700 local patients.
/ AFP / Brendan Smialowski / TO GO WITH AFP STORY by Elodie MAZEIN, "'Grown in Washington': the marijuana farms near US power hub" (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Anti-legalization group urges feds to “systematically shut down” cannabis industry: Jeff Sessions has more reading about marijuana regs on his desk. This month, governors from Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, the first four states to legalize recreational marijuana, each sent letters to the attorney general defending their respective regulatory regimes, designed to uphold the Cole Memo. That Obama-era memo outlined law enforcement and financial oversight priorities for states that have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use. On the fourth anniversary of the memo, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), a nonprofit group opposed to marijuana legalization, announced it had sent a report to Sessions and other lawmakers detailing how those states have failed to live up to the responsibilities outlined. –Report by The Cannabist’s Polly Washburn

Man blows up underground bunker while making hash oil: A Larimer County, Colorado man has been arrested on suspicion of child abuse after building an underground fallout bunker and allegedly making butane hash oil in the room, blowing it up. He, another man and a juvenile were injured. Michael Lee Williams, 35, was arrested Aug. 24 on charges including felony child abuse, assault, extraction of marijuana concentrate and arson, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. –Report by The Denver Post’s Kieran Nicholson

VA roadblock hinders study on cannabis as PTSD treatment for veterans: The first controlled clinical trial of medical marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in U.S. military veterans is in jeopardy if the Phoenix Veterans Administration Health Care System doesn’t participate with patient recruitment efforts, a lead researcher for the study said. Arizona-based scientists have almost completed research with 22 veterans and now need to screen 6,000 to 8,000 vets to enroll an additional 54 qualifying PTSD patients in order to move the study forward, according to an Aug. 21 letter sent to VA officials by Dr. Sue Sisley, site principal investigator with Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), administrator of the federally approved study. “There will be no improvement in veteran volunteers until the Phoenix VA hospital agrees to start cooperating with us,” she wrote in the letter shared with The Cannabist. “They have blocked access to appropriate Phoenix-area veterans with PTSD for the past two years now.” –Report by The Cannabist’s Bruce Kennedy

Maine Border Patrol will still seize marijuana despite legalization: Border Patrol officials in Maine say they will still enforce federal law and confiscate marijuana after residents voted for legalization last November. Chief Daniel Hiebert tells The Portland Press Herald border agents are not actively looking for the drug, but they will confiscate it if found. With a short staff at the Houlton Sector, Hiebert says the agency will make human trafficking, drug trafficking and terrorism links their primary focus. –Report by The Associated Press

Introducing “High Minded”

A new podcast is coming soon from The Cannabist: Hosted by Cannabist editor-in-chief Alex Pasquariello, and featuring national cannabis policy and business reporter Alicia Wallace, the “High Minded” podcast is the latest source for the most up-to-date conversations with federal policy leaders, state trendsetters, politicians and the upper echelon of the burgeoning marijuana industry. For its inaugural broadcast, Pasquariello convened a round table of Colorado officials overseeing the state’s marijuana regulatory regime to discuss efforts to protect public safety and public health. High Minded will premiere in full in the coming weeks, please keep tuned in to social media for The Cannabist and Producer Vince for the latest.